Why can't we recycle plastics other than bottle-shaped plastics?

 

• Polymer types
• Problems with other types of plastics
• Sorting plastics
• Why do some Local Authorities collect other plastics for recycling?
• What can be done about the problem of non-bottle plastics?
• What is the packaging industry doing about this?
• Can Government do anything about this?
• More information

 

Polymer types

Plastic bottles are made from the following plastic polymers:

PET (Polyethylene Terephalate); Number 1. Examples: fizzy drink and squash type bottles

HDPE ( High Density Polyethylene); Number 2. Examples:  milk bottles, household bleach

PVC (Polyvinylchloride); Number 3. Examples:  may be some imported mineral water

PP (Polypropylene); Number 5. Examples:  washing up liquid bottles e.g. Persil

 

Compared to other plastics, bottles are a more mature type of plastic packaging that have common industry standards. This allows bottles that have been manufactured almost anywhere in the world to be sold and recycled in the UK.

Plastic bottles are always made from the same material, regardless of the brand and, due to the nature of producing the bottles in the first place, have a very tightly defined material product specification.

By recycling only plastic bottles you can guarantee that the Melt Flow Index (MFI) will not vary, and therefore can have confidence that whatever you are recycling the bottle into will be of perfect quality.

Problems with other types of plastics

Trays, tubs and other plastic packaging are invariably made of other polymer types, and those that are made of the same polymer have a different MFI anyway. This means that the material will not be consistent, which is the absolute key in plastics processing.

Some examples:

Yoghurt pots can be made from either polypropylene (PP) or polystyrene (PS), and there is no pattern as to which is used where. If you try to manufacture something from a blend of PP/PS you end up with something of no physical strength that will simply delaminate.

Trays could be PP/PS/PVC or others, each of which has radically different melt points and physical properties, so by the time you are melting one polymer in the mix, you could easily be degrading another.

Sorting plastics

In the UK it is not economically viable to sort post consumer plastics by hand, whereas in the Far East it is.

Plastics sorting equipment is generally geared around bottles, with most commercially available sorting equipment relying on the ballistic properties of moving/formed bottles being conveyed to a polymer/colour detection unit, and being diverted to collection points by air jets. Tubs, trays, carrier bags or wrappers do not handle in the same manner, and therefore invariably end up at the wrong collection point and need removing again.

In theory all plastics can be recycled, as long as they are properly segregated and washed prior to the extrusion stage. There are so many different polymers, and blends of polymers in the post consumer waste stream, that to separate them all would be a practical nightmare, and an economic impossibility. The largest fraction by far is made up of bottles, and these are easily identifiable, and the equipment required to do it is readily available.

Why do some Local Authorities collect other plastics for recycling?

 

Although some authorities do collect these types of plastic they are predominately exported for processing and currently this practice is subject to review by the Environment Agency due to contamination issues and will probably decline.

What can be done about the problem of non-bottle plastics?

Project Integra, who represent all the Hampshire local authorities on general waste related issues, are attending a number of meetings with representatives from the Packaging Industry and WRAP (waste resources action programme) on this very issue.

However this is a very complex issue and a number of options are under general discussion such as:

• Closing the loop by making these other forms of plastic packaging out of a smaller range of plastic types with defined quality standards to stimulate local UK reprocessing.
• The move towards making more of this type of plastic out of material that can be composted.
• The option for supermarkets to increase the range of materials that they take back from their customers and arrange to have it recycled or composted as appropriate

What is the packaging industry doing about this?

This is an issue for the plastic packaging chain (from manufacturer to the seller of the goods) to sort out with the plastic reprocessors to make these types of plastics more recyclable and to assist financially.

 

Can Government do anything about this?

 

The UK Government have introduced producer responsibility regulations under the European packaging directive. Unfortunately, in the UK, it is an industry led scheme and although it has increased the levels of packaging recycled at minimal costs it has not stimulated either UK processing capacity or influenced product design.

 

In Germany under producer responsibility (E.U. law), where the plastic packaging industry (manufacturer to the seller of the goods), subsidises the recycling of plastic packaging e.g. food trays and film, under the green dot scheme, the levels of subsidy are much higher than in the UK.

More information

Please email customerservices@fareham.gov.uk or call 01329 236100, or visit one of the following web sites.

• Project Integra (This is an external hyperlink)
• Waste & Resources Action Plan (WRAP) (This is an external hyperlink)
• Recycle for Hampshire (This is an external hyperlink)
• Industry Council for Packaging & the Environment (This is an external hyperlink)